Unknowable
by Dearbhail
Summary: The team search for a missing New Yorker...and fail. She's dead. But they find someone else, someone nobody was looking for, nobody had reported missing, and someone nobody knew. Sorry for the awful summary, please R&R! go on, it's short!
1. Into The Rain

The city was alive. With thousands of lives and millions of stories, it wore infinite faces. It threw its spires and rooftops into the heavens, blanketing out the stars with its lights - red, gold, white, blue, and everything in between. Everyone in between. But the more lights that you have, and the brighter they shine, the more shadows fester in the outreaches…just under the surface. Darker than any night, night that never falls in a city that never sleeps.

New York breathed.

---

He stepped out into the ocean of night. It opened its arms and enfolded him – his city. He heard its song – knew its tides and waters, its strengths, its undercurrents that could pull the feet out from under you. You could lose your life to the dark. Funny thing, existence. Fragile.

Life goes on, always does. Droplets in the sea, human lives. Not that any of these morons elbowing past him had any idea, heads bowed against the rain, protecting themselves…from what? They should appreciate what they've got, be grateful for their life. Never know when it'll be gone.

People were skirting past him now. One woman even splashed into the gutter after seeing him. What did she think he was going to do, rape her? He had more important things to do tonight. Just means that he'll get there quicker. Wake them all up sooner.

Someone has to do it. It needs to be done. It just so happens that it'll be him making some decisions tonight. Shaking some droplets into the seas.

On the bus now. Not long to go. Grey faces, exhausted from the rat race. Light and water on the glass. He twisted his fingers on his lap. Smiled to the night. Swam in its depths. On the streets again, feet pounding through the driving rain. He needs to get there faster now. Wants to see if they hide from him, too. As they say, you can run, but you can't hide. Not in his city. Not on these streets. He'll find you. Suppose you do know some things.

The apartment block loomed over him, windows broken and doors boarded up. Innocuous. He mounted the steps. 1, 2, 3. A little boy laughed. In the grand scheme of things, life goes on.

He stepped through the door. Eyes blazed.

---

Her soft curls tumbled about her face, tousled and shining in the dancing lights. Around her the city hummed, voices murmured, but she didn't notice. Her delicate eyelashes cast shadows upon her eyes – dark, enchanting eyes. They'd captivated him. Curled on the armchair, away from the storm outside maybe, a hand gently caressed her cheek, neck, resting for a while, unsure if she slept or woke. Thunder growled and lights flickered. The hand withdrew.

"Dead" One of the men with sliver badges stepped away from the corpse. Yellow curls, blue lips, red blood.

"This one too." Another man, older this time, pulled away from a body with blazing eyes, dripping knife in hand, the agent's bullet lodged in his bleeding gut. He shut the eyes.

"What else?"

---

help me help me help me can't breathe. no breath to scream too scared to scream. can't move. smothered suffocated…screams, bang, shouts…don't leave me…drifting away…fight it…falling asleep again…stop…let me out…hear my silence…forget me…fall away…out of focus…forget everything…

"In here!" A woman's voice cried out, hands struggled, arms wrenched, water soared shining through the air, past a blonde head. "Alive?" A second woman this time, swirling colours on dark skin.

She crashed to the floor pale skin blue lips. Pumping chest moving heart spurting water gasping air.

New man now, dark, lifted her and carried her out.

Frightened eyes dragged open. She screamed.

Blue lips. Red blood. Yellow curls. She screamed.

Burning bullet. Blazing eyes. She screamed.

Into the rain.

---


	2. Bed Bugs

"I never did like hospitals". Those self-same hands that had stroked the dead woman's cheek so gently were now pushed deep into pockets, as Martin paced the corridor. It was a stab at normality when nobody could think of anything else to say.

"Go home then" came the immediate reply. Slung apparently nonchalantly against the window of her room, the dark agent who had held her struggling in his arms was dishevelled and exhausted, but Danny's replies, as ever, were fast.

"Give over, it's you that needs the beauty sleep" the blonde head was raised from the young woman's hands. Sitting on a visitor's seat, however much she wanted a shower and however confused she was, Sam couldn't let that one pass.

"Looks like all you kids need a nap" was the wearily amused answer, as Danny smiled sarcastically and Sam responded in kind. Martin somehow seemed less nervous; he even stopped pacing. The only other woman on the team was standing with the rest, arms folded, faint smile upon her lips. Now that conversation was going, Viv didn't want that aching silence to return.

"I don't need all of you here, if you want to get off home be my guest" the older agent, the last to speak and the one with the most authority in his voice, stood up from leaning on the desk. "Someone could get back to the office and try and find out what we're dealing with."

Shocked and unnerved as they all were at being given a choice, Sam was the first to react. "I'll wait for a name first thanks Jack."

"Then you'll be waiting a long time honey"

"Why's that?" Danny jumped.

"She says she can't remember a thing. Doesn't know, so she says."

"How long before we can talk to her?" Martin was in.

"We shouldn't be too long, but that doesn't mean she'll be ready to talk to you. And we don't like those things round here", the nurse indicated the agent's guns, "cause us too much trouble."

Moving as one, all of the agents shielded their weapons from view. "Thank you nurse, we understand." Jack turned to address his agents. "That settles it. I only need one of you to stay. Martin, you could go and finish digging up on that guy from earlier, and find a next of kin for them both please. Viv, you can get back to Reggie."

"You sure?" She didn't want special treatment, although she did want to see her son.

"It's fine, we won't be long here, and Martin should nearly be done anyway"

"Why won't we be long here?" Jack turned to Danny – he didn't explain himself to his agents however much he respected them, but it had been a long three days with only snatches of sleep, and had ended in having to cart off two body bags. F.B.I. agents or not, some things always got to you.

"Because we're not missing identities – I don't know how much we can do."

"If you want to stay Danny, I'll help Martin with the paper-pushing." Sam said with an odd look. Through the chorus of good bye's, Danny's grin was back in place with his "Sleep tight", followed by Sam's "Don't let the bed bug's bite" over her shoulder.

Nevertheless, once Viv, Sam and Martin had left down the winding corridor, the joking stopped and the reality of the situation once again settled onto their shoulders.

Two dead. One person almost drowned. Found weighed down at the bottom of a bath full of water, palely turning blue. Unlooked for and now without a name apparently, they didn't have much to go on. Jack tried to concentrate on the facts, the situation, but it got to him, like all the others did. Especially this one, because he didn't understand – it didn't add up.

Danny tried to think of other things, but it was the scream as he touched her that he really thought of. The fear he'd made her feel…maybe seeing her safer would help. Although honestly, a good night's sleep would do the job better.

For Martin, it was the blonde woman's face he saw. Her blood on his hands, his clothes – it wouldn't wash out. For Sam, the girl's eyes through the water, the violence of the other woman's death. Viv's hands were still cold after pumping back life into the colder body of the girl.

But in truth, it was their failure that quietened them all. Their person was murdered, probably as they made their way to the scene. The murderer having slipped through their fingers mere hours before. But then, this was their job; they knew it and its consequences. They'd all be right as rain the next morning.

"What're we going to do?" Danny glanced at the girl's window again, even though the blind's were drawn.

"We're not missing identities" Jack sighed again. "I don't know."

"She's all yours" the nurse smiled. She was the only one.

---**Thank you for the reviews! I hope this cleared things up a bit, any suggestions on how the story or I can improve are welcomed, as indeed are all reviews…I may just have to feed you all chocolate as a reward! If it's too slow or too short, or whatever, just say…so thanks a lot! Updates should hopefully be fairly regular ;)**


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